Post-coital dysphoria was a condition that was previously only recognised in women but a recent study has found that men can be diagnosed with it too. Co-author of a study in the international journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, Professor Robert Schweitzer told Hack that the notion that men always desire sex and find it pleasurable is wrong. PCD can lead to feelings of irritability, deep sorrow and tearfulness following sex.

Around 1,207 men were surveyed for this study and 41 per cent of them stated that they had experienced PCD. “After sexual activity, I get a strong sense of self-loathing about myself, usually I’ll distract myself by going to sleep or going and doing something else or occasionally laying in silence until it goes away,” said one respondent, according to Hack.

According to the research, it is evident that PCD can negatively affect relationships and interactions of people following the sexual act. “So, the negative affective state which defines PCD has potential to cause distress to the individual, as well as the partner, disrupt important relationship processes, and contribute to distress and conflict within the relationship, and impact upon sexual and relationship functioning,” said Schweitzer, according to Newsweek.

The professor also notes that men tend to face many expectations when it comes to their performance in bed and this can affect the resolution phase following coitus.

“These assumptions are pervasive within masculine subculture and include that males always desire and experience sex as pleasurable,” he said, according to Newsweek. “The experience of PCD contradicts these dominant cultural assumptions about the male experience [of] sexual activity and of the resolution phase.”

When it comes to research, PCD is still very new. However, experts believe that there could be many factors that cause it – psychological and biological.